Families are being encouraged to plan for the future by obtaining Power of Attorneys (POA) to protect the wishes of relatives and friends in the event of illness or accidents.

After a successful Glasgow POA campaign over the last five years, Health and Social Care Scotland has now embarked on a national POA campaign, #PeopleLikeYou with 29 of the 31 HSCPs signing up.

A steering group with representation from across Scotland has responsibility for delivery of the campaign in partnership with Enterprise Screen who recently won the Herald Scotland’s Digital Award for Consumer Engagement for the POA Campaign.

Each of these HSCPs are working towards a national Power of Attorney Day on 20 November 2019, with planned local activities across the country.

In Glasgow, there will be a range of activities across the city to promote the day.

POA is a legal document giving a nominated person authority to act or make decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity and are no longer able to look after your financial or personal affairs.

Ann Cummings, Glasgow City HSCP lead for the campaign said: “People assume their next of kin will be able to make decisions on their behalf, if they develop dementia or have an accident which means they lose mental capacity. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, legally you must have Power of Attorney, and without it a guardianship legal process will be required which can be a long and stressful process at a time when emotions are already high. POA is a bit like insurance, it’s better to be prepared, to protect yourself and your family.

“This campaign is an excellent of example of a preventative approach to health and social care. The impact of the campaign in Glasgow is evident with Office of Public Guardian statistics showing a 26% increase in POA registrations over 2018/19.” 

Anyone interested in finding out more about Power of Attorney should consult their lawyer or visit https://mypowerofattorney.org.uk/